Moses Malone, R.I.P.
Basketball legend Moses Malone died in his sleep of an apparent heart attack. He was 60.
Malone signed with the Utah Stars of the ABA out of high school in 1975. He played two seasons in the ABA - one with the Stars and one with the Spirits of St. Louis before joining the NBA. After initially signing with the Portland Trailblazers, he would be traded to the Buffalo Braves. But Malone would become part of the NBA elite when he joined the Houston Rockets in 1978 where he became the league's premier offenive rebounder. During his tenure with the Rockets, Malone would win two of his three NBA MVPs in 1979 and 1982.
His third and final NBA MVP came when he joined the Philadelphia 76ers in 1983. Malone became the first player in the four professional spors to win back to back MVPs with two different teams (Barry Bonds would match this feat winning the NL MVP with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the San Francisco Giants in 1992 and 1993). Along with Dr. J, Malone would lead the 76ers to an NBA title. Malone played in the NBA for another dozen years with the Washington Bullets, Atlanta Hawks, Milwaukee Bucks, a returned to the 76ers before ending his NBA career in 1995 with the San Antonio Spurs. He would be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.
Malone's passing comes less than three weeks after the death of another NBA legend Darryl Dawkins. If the 76er hadn't traded Dawkins to the New Jersey Nets would the 76ers have obtained Malone?
I leave you with a video of Malone's career highlights.